INsight

Project Overview

INSIGHT is a three-channel video and spatial installation exploring how shifts in perception reshape our experience of work, presence, and self. Rooted in Eastern reflective practice, it draws from four years of self-filming in which the artist traces the shifts between fixation and presence. Through synchronized projections and an immersive spatial design, viewers enter this oscillation—echoing the Zen phrase: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. While external actions remain the same, inner awareness transforms.

Personal Context (Roger)

In 2015, I began filming myself working alone on physically demanding, self-taught projects on the land, hoping to better understand my relationship with work and the root of my lifelong anxiety. The camera became my tool for self-observation.

The act of self-filming not only slowed my usual task-driven rhythm but also opened my attention beyond the work itself. Adjusting the camera made me notice weather, light, and pauses I would normally overlook. Each night, organizing and reviewing the footage forced me to watch myself on screen, revealing what I had missed while working: that I was part of a larger environment where many things were unfolding. It also reminded me how my thoughts during work were often intensely goal-oriented—and anxious.

Over more than 3,000 hours of recording across four years, I experienced this shift again and again—from a task-focused mindset to a more expansive sense of being part of a greater whole. Slowly, I uncovered that my constant drive to learn new skills had been fueled by a fear of inadequacy rooted in a critical upbringing.

As Eckhart Tolle wrote, Doing is never enough if you neglect Being. INSIGHT makes this distinction tangible.

Artistic Framework

INSIGHT translates the experience of perceptual shift into a physical, navigable space. A translucent projection screen bisects the installation, forming two connected zones:

• Outer World (Front Room) — A single projection (Video 1), filmed by Roger, is cast from a custom chair he designed and built. The chair functions as a sculptural proxy for the artist’s gaze—the self-observation that initiates the project.

• Inner World (Back Room) — Two animations face each other across the space: one drawn from sketches and working notes (Video 2), the other from observational drawings of moments and scenes (Video 3). They embody two modes—focused task and open presence. A thin wall with tapered shelves divides the space, marking the fine threshold between these states, while objects on both sides ground the work in lived experience.

The spatial design leads visitors from the outer world (front room)—where external action is observed—into the inner world (back room), where states of mind are held in contrast and dialogue. This passage mirrors the work’s psychology: a shift from external perception to internal reflection.

Installation Experience

Visitors first enter the Outer World, encountering Video 1: a seemingly confident, highly skilled figure absorbed in multiple tasks.

Moving past the translucent screen into the Inner World, they see Video 1 continue through the screen, now perceived with the two animations. The thin wall structures how viewers navigate: they may choose to focus on one animation with Video 1, or move to the end of the wall, where all three projections come into view at once, divided by the wall.

This physical shifting between projections makes perceptual transformation tangible—external actions remain constant while internal states are transformed.

Installation Framework and Credits follow below.